


His Eyes of Seas and Sapphires

by Indigo_warlock



Series: Falling and Rising [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Battle, Comfort, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Light Angst, Memories, Near Death Experiences, One Shot, Resurrection, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28952103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indigo_warlock/pseuds/Indigo_warlock
Summary: After a rough battle, Lydia has a talk with her Thane about life and death and the burden of being the dragonborn.
Relationships: Dovahkiin | Dragonborn & Lydia, Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Lydia, Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn & Lydia, Male Dovahkiin | Dragonborn/Lydia
Series: Falling and Rising [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205645
Kudos: 8





	His Eyes of Seas and Sapphires

**Author's Note:**

> 1) The relationship between Lydia and the dragonborn could be interpreted as romantic or platonic depending on how you read it. I wasn't really sure how to tag it. 
> 
> 2) Akatosh is mentioned, not present, but I thought I'd tag him anyway since he plays an important part in this.
> 
> 3) I tried to avoid using a canon race or name for the dragonborn so you could imagine him in whatever way you wish. Enjoy!

"Why did you do it?" The question leaves Lydia's mouth before she has a chance to think. She stares into the flames of the campfire, thinking of everything and nothing.

The man sitting across from her sighs, his voice tired and his breath ragged. "Lydia." His eyes meet hers, and she looks away, unable to meet his gaze. " _ Lydia.  _ Look at me."

"Yes, my Thane." Dutiful as always, Lydia looks him in the eye. She's always been captivated by his eyes, the color of seas and sapphires. Today, she sees none of their beauty, only sorrow, and she knows his expression mirrors her own.

"We've been adventuring together for a long time, you and I. We both knew this was a possibility; we always did." The man explains kindly, gently, in the same soft tone he would use to speak to his children. "This was not your fault." 

"You took the blow for me." Her voice breaks on the last word. "Why? You're the Thane of Whiterun, the dragonborn, the last hope of all Tamriel. And I...I'm just a housecarl. Why?" She's shaking now, hardly holding back tears.

"Oh, Lydia. You see my as your Thane, but I see you as a friend. And if you had fallen to that blade, I never would have forgiven myself." He leans forward, taking her hands in his."You mean far more to me than you could ever know." 

"You're so reckless." Her voice starts in a harsh whisper, then rises into a wail. "The world would have turned without me. But you...the world needs you. The people need you. I am your protector, and you are my Thane! So why are you the one protecting me?!"

For a few moments, there is only silence, punctuated by the chirping of crickets in the cool night air. And Lydia remembers.

...

_ They had scoured all of Tamriel in search of the Elder Scroll. They had faced draugr and dragons and many men that would see them harmed, yet they had always triumphed. Her Thane remained a calm voice of reason and guided her through it all. But one mistake was all it took to bring it all crashing down. He had learned many lessons over the course of their journey, but she had grown arrogant instead of wise, and rushed the enemy head on. He had paid the price.  _

_ Having just finished off the last of the enemies, she turned, and gasped at the sight. Her Thane staggered back and slumped against the wall as blood poured from the wound in his chest. _

_ "My Thane!" Lydia rushed to his side and caught him as he fell, holding him as he collapsed to the ground. She pulled the sword from his body and flung it across the room, then pressed her hands to the wound. Applying pressure would help. It had to help. _

_ "Lydia-" The man coughed, blood gushing from his lips. _

_ "Save your strength, my Thane. You'll be alright." Fighting panic, she rifled through his pockets for a potion, something, anything- _

_ "Lydia." He nearly coughed up a lung as he forced out the name, his breaths coming in heaving gasps. His hand, slicked with the blood of himself and a dozen men, grasped her own. "There's nothing left." _

_ "Hold on. Just- hold on, okay?! You're going to be fine." Lydia had always been more logical than emotional. She had seen enough bloodshed to know what a fatal wound looked like, but for once, reason failed her. The man before her was dying, but she couldn't let him die because- _

_ "Listen well, my friend."  _

_ She could see him fighting the pain with every word, she could feel his hand growing cold in hers, but she couldn't let him go, not yet, not- _

_ "I...must thank you. For standing by my side. For taking on my quest as your own. You could have run...could have left, and saved yourself...but you stayed. You are so brave, Lydia. You always were." He smiled, not his regular smile that brought joy to the darkest of places, but a heart-wrenching gesture made grotesque by the blood staining his teeth and the light leaving his eyes, his eyes like the seas and sapphires- _

_ "I'm not brave. I'm a coward, so cowardly that I couldn't save you. Please...you have to stay with me. I can't fail you like this, I can't!" Lydia squeezed his hand tightly, too afraid to let go. _

_ "So brave," He murmured, his voice faint and distant, his eyes fluttering shut. "'So brave. 'Til Sovngarde...my..." _

_ His breath halted. _

_ "My Thane." She spoke softly, shaking his body lightly. "Wake up. Please...please." _

_ No response. But Lydia would not give up the man she had fought and nearly died for so easily. And so Lydia prayed for a miracle. _

_ "Akatosh. You know of the prophecy. You know of the dangers Alduin will bring upon his return. This man is the only one who can stop him. Please. If you have not forsaken us- if you are still fighting for the children of Skyrim- bring him back to us. Just give him one more chance. Please." _

_ A long, long silence.  _

_ And then those eyes, those sea and sapphire eyes, opened once again. _

...

"You're wrong. I see you as my Thane, but my friend as well. I was just...afraid to admit it. I didn't want to open up to you because I was afraid to lose you." Lydia chokes back a sob. Unable to hold his gaze any longer, she closes her eyes for a moment and takes deep, heaving gulps of air, a welcome reassurance that she still lived, that the end had not come just yet.

"Life is short in this world, doubly so for those like us. I understand the need to protect yourself." The dragonborn lays a comforting hand on her shoulder. "But know that I will do all I can to keep you safe, my friend, as you would do the same for me."

Lydia turns from his touch, shrugging him off. "It was all my fault. You were  _ dead.  _ You died because of me!"

"No. You did all you could, but in the end, I was the one who chose to take that blade, Lydia, and I was the one who suffered the consequences. And I would gladly do so again, if only to keep you safe." Warm arms wrap around her in a hug, the man's words like a blanket sheltering them from the freezing air.

_ He's okay. He's alive. The dragonborn is alive. _

And Lydia opens her eyes, and hugs him back, and allows herself just one moment of vulnerability in the dead of night.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if Akatosh actually has the power to revive the dead, but...oh well. That's how this story happened XD
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
